YELLOW GOAt's-BEARD. , 55 



light produce a contraction of the spiral 

 wires ; the slightest diminution in either, 

 according to the fineness of the wires, ef- 

 fects a dilatation of them. Their position 

 also is important with regard to the move- 

 ments of such flowers, whether by their 

 agency the petals shall be shut or opened, 

 as, in mechanics, the same spring may be 

 made to turn to the right or left, to open 

 or close a box. 



The purple goat's-beard, or salsify, T.pos- 

 sifolius, in like manner, unfolds her petals 

 at a stated hour, and closes them at noon. 

 She affects meadows and pasture-lands, not 

 such as are varied with the pimpernel and 

 corn-flower, children of dry land, but where 

 the soil is boggy, and streamlets abound. 

 Dillenius noticed the flower, and her con- 

 gener, as growing around Carlisle and Rose 

 Castle, in Cumberland. Old Gerard ga- 

 thered them on the banks of the Calder, 



